O 


THE  LADY  ISIS  IN  BOHEMIA 


V 


DJRING  THE  YEAR  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  Preface 
ninety  I  procured  in  Egypt  a  mummy,  that  I  presented 
later  to  the  Bohemian  Club  of  San  Francisco,  of  which 
I  was,  even  then,  one  of  its  earliest  members,  jff  This  mummy 
had  been  that  of  a  female  member  of  the  regal  family  repre- 

ji-*  ^^*^ 

senting  the  twenty-fourth  Egyptian  dynasty,  jjf  It  was  discov 
ered  at  Girgeh  on  the  Nile  the  same  year,  just  prior  to  the  arri' 
val  of  United  States  Consul-General  Schuyler  and  myself  at  'j? 
that  town  in  our  dahabieyeh  on  which  we  were  sailing  to 
Thebes.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  these  peculiar  mementoes  </ 
of  antiquity  were  more  numerous  and  less  valued  than  today. 
So,  assisted  by  the  political  influence  of  General  Schuyler,  I 
was  enabled  to  secure  not  only  the  princess,  but  also  two  male 
mummies  which  had  been  located  in  a  secret  recess  close  by 
her  own  tomb.  From  Girgeh  they  were  floated  down  the  river 
to  Cairo  in  a  barge  loaded  with  loose  wheat,  nestling  among 
whose  grains  the  three  sarcophagi  rested  quite  securely.  Brugsch 
Bey,  curator  of  the  Cairo  Museum,  easily  read  the  hieroglyphics, 
that  like  coffin  plates  covered  the  lower  front  of  each  top.  It 
then  appeared  that  the  male  mummies  were  those  of  priests, 
while  the  female  came  of  royal  lineage,  one  who  had  nevertheless 
consecrated  her  life  and  death  to  Isis,  the  Egyptian  goddess. 
As  a  priestess  and  a  vestal  virgin  she  had  taken  vows,  dying 
at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  and  buried  with  evident  care  and 
secrecy,  for  both  as  a  priestess  and  a  princess  she  ranked  among 
the  noblest  of  those  women  devoted  to  the  Future.  From  Cairo 
to  Alexandria  by  rail,  thence  by  steam  to  Liverpool,  thence 
transhipped  by  sail  to  San  Francisco,  the  three  coffins  with  their 
rare  burdens  were  easily  and  safely  transported.  I  gave  the 


Preface  phis,  where  I  knew  Professor  G.Flinders  Petrie  was  superintend' 
ing  explorations  amidst  its  ruins  for  the  British  and  American 
Egyptian  Research  Association,  told  him  my  tale,  and  a  few 
hours  later  we  stood  before  The  Lady  Isis  in  the  ancient  solid 
stone  palace  of  the  extinct  Pashas.  Professor  Petrie,  whose 
profound  knowledge  and  acquirements  in  the  lore  of  Old  Egypt 
are  not  surpassed  by  any  living  man,  readily  read  the  hiero- 
glyphic language  on  the  coffin,  which  indeed  he  copied  at  once 
on  paper,  writing  the  English  transcription  under  the  Egyptian 
symbols.  He  approximated  the  dynasty  from  the  contour  and 
construction  of  the  coffin,  for  he  stated  that  in  the  case  of 
women  the  date  and  period  of  their  decease  was  rarely  in' 
dicated.  But,  he  added,  certain  slight  but  significant  changes 
in  the  coffin  and  lettering  occurred  about  every  other  cen- 
tury, deviations  from  previous  orthodox  methods,  that  were 
known  and  understood  by  competent  Egyptologists.  Doubt- 
less, the  priests,  who  monopolized  all  funeral  ceremonies,  and 
indeed  at  times  the  kingdom  itself,  made  these  alterations  or 
innovations  in  deference  to  some  new  legend  or  as  the  ascer- 
tained desire  of  some  new  god.  \itf  While  Professor  Petrie,  la- 
den with  my  gratitude,  returned  forthwith  to  Memphis— he 
never  spent  a  night  in  Cairo  that  he  could  avoid,  so  fond  was 
he  of  his  work— I  called  at  the  museum  where  my  old  friend 
of  the  Henry  M.  Stanley  days,  Brugsch  Bey,  now  Brugsch 
Pasha,  still  lodged  with  the  dead  Pharaohs.  utfThe  Pasha  gave 
his  consent  to  the  removal  of  the  mummy  only  after  the  inter- 
cession of  certain  potentates  in  Cairo  had  been  solicited  and 
granted.  The  Lady  Isis  was  purchased  and  carefully  placed, 
still  resting  in  her  original  coffin,  in  a  box  of  larger  dimensions, 


and  before  the  "wise  men^of  Egypt  knew,  she  was  borne  on  Preface 
the  deep  waves  to  that  marvelous  city  where  the  New  World 
greets  the  western  seas.  JtfAk  last,  on  May  5,  1914,  quite  a  year 
after  the  hurried  departure  from  Cairo,  came  the  Presentation 
which  had  been  announced  and  described  in  a  circular  issued 
and  forwarded  to  each  Club  member  a  few  days  earlier.  JtP 
Jeremiah  Lynch. 


J»  ON  TUESDAY  EVENING,  MAY  THE  FIFTH,  NINETEEN  The 
HUNDRED  AND  FOURTEEN,  AT  NINE  O'CLOCK,  A  HIGH  Lady  Isis  in 
JINKS  WAS  GIVEN  AT  THE  BOHEMIAN  CLUB,  BOHEMI-  Bohemia 

AN  CHARLES  K.  FIELD,  PRESIDENT  AND  SIRE.  BOHEMI- 
AN JEREMIAH  LYNCH  PRESENTED  TO  BOHEMIA  THE 
MUMMY  OF  THE  LADY  ISIS,  A  LADY  OF  THE  COURT  AT 
THEBES  NEARLY  THREE  THOUSAND  YEARS  AGO.  THIS 
GIFTREPLACED  THE  PRECIOUS  RELIC  WHICH  WAS  DE- 
STROYED IN  THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED 
AND  SIX,  AND  WHICH  ALSO  HAD  BEEN  PRESENTED  TO 
THE  CLUB  BY  MR.  LYNCH.  BOHEMIANS  RUFUS  STEELE 
AND  JOSEPH  D.  REDDING  CONTRIBUTED  PAPERS  TO 
THE  PROGRAM  OF  THE  JINKS,  AND  BOHEMIAN  RICH- 
ARD M.  HOTALING  RECITED  A  POEM.  BOHEMIAN  W.  J. 
McCOY  COMPOSED  DESCRIPTIVE  MUSIC,  WHICH  WAS 
RENDERED  BY  THE  CLUB  CHORUS  AND  AN  AUGMENT- 
ED ORCHESTRA.  THE  HIGH  JINKS  CONCLUDED  WITH 
A  PHANTASY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT  ENTITLED  "THE 
DREAM;TERFORMED  BYBOHEMIANSRICHARDM.HO- 
TALING,  GEORGE  HAMMERSMITH,GEORGEB.DELONG, 
AMEDEE  JOULLIN,  E.  L.  TAYLOR,  6P  OTHER  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  CLUB,  WITH  A  SCENIC  INVESTITURE  DESIGNED 
BY  BOHEMIAN  HAIG  PATIGIAN:  BOHEMIAN  A.  J.  BUT- 
LER, STAGE  DIRECTOR;  BOHEMIAN  E.T.  GRAND  ALL, 
CHORUS  MASTER;  AND  BOHEMIAN  EUGENE  BLAN- 
CH ARD,  ACCOMPANIST.  Jf  A  BANQUET  PRECEDING 
THE  PRESENTATION  OCCURRED  IN  THE  PRINCIPAL 


The  DINING  HALL,  AND  WAS  ATTENDED  BY  SOME  FOUR 
Lady  Isis  in  HUNDRED  BOHEMIANS  AND  GUESTS.  AT  THE  END  OF 
Bohemia  THE  REPAST  MR.  FIELD  OFFERED  A  FELICITOUS  TOAST 
TO  JEREMIAH  LYNCH,  THE  GUEST  OF  THE  EVENING, 
WHO  RESPONDED  IN  APPROPRIATE  PHRASES.  FOL- 
LOWING A  CUSTOM  OF  THE  ANCIENT  EGYPTIANS,  feP 
ONE  CONTINUED  LATER  BY  THE  GREEKS,THE  MUMMY 
WAS  THEN  BROUGHT  INTO  THE  DINING  HALL  BORNE 
ON  THE  SHOULDERS  OF  FOUR  MEN  DRESSED  AS  ETHI- 
OPIANS, PRECEDED  BY  PRIESTS,  CHORAL  SINGERS,  AND 
MUSICIANS,  ALL  ROBED  IN  CLASSIC  EGYPTIAN  COS- 
TUMES, THE  CHORUS  CHANTING  HYMNS  AND  MUSIC 
WRITTEN  FOR  THE  FESTIVAL^NOT  IN  MODERN  HIS- 
TORY, NOR  INDEED  SINCE  THE  DAYS  OFTHE  CAESARS, 
CAN  THERE  BE  RECALLED  A  SINGLE  ILLUSTRATION 
WHERE  THIS  EXTRAORDINARY  FUNCTION  WAS  COM- 
MEMORATED. ITS  REVIVAL  IS  THOUGHT  TO  BE  THE 
FIRST  IN  MANY  CENTURIES,  6?  CERTAINLY  THE  FIRST 
IN  THE  NEW  WORLD.THE  ANCIENTS  INTENDED  THAT 
IN  THE  MIDST  OF  MIRTH  fe?  REVELRY,  SURROUNDING 
THE  WINE  CUP  AND  THE  BANQUETING  TABLES,  WE 
SHOULD  BE  REMINDED  OF  THE  END,  6?  AN  EMBALMED 
MUMMY  ENVELOPED  IN  ITS  ENLACING  SHROUDS 
WOULD  BE  CERTAINLY  AN  OBJECT  OF  REVERENT  RE- 
FLECTION AND  CONTEMPLATION.  J&THE  BE ARERS  OF 
THE  LADY  ISIS  ACCOMPANIED  BY  THE  PROCESSION 
CIRCLED  EACH  TABLE  IN  TURN,  6?  AS  THE  STRANGE 
NOTES  OF  THE  FINAL  HYMN  CEASED,  HALTED  IN 
FRONTOFTHE  PRESIDENT  AND  GUEST.THE  HALL  HAD 
BEEN  IN  SEMI-DARKNESS  DURING  THE  MARCH,  BUT 
NOW  IT  WAS  SUDDENLY  BRIGHTLY  ILLUMINATED, 
WHILE  MR.  LYNCH  CALLED  ON  BOHEMIANS  TO  ARISE 
6?  OFFER  WITH  HIM  A  LIBATION  TO: :  "THE  LADY  ISIS: 
BE  THIS  FOREVER  HER  TEMPLE."  J&  PURSUANT  TO  AN- 
CIENT RITES,THE  CORTEGE,  WITHOUT  ANY  FURTHER 
DELAY  OR  OBSERVANCE,  DEPARTED  FROM  THE  HALL 
INTHE  SAME  ORDER  THAT  IT  ENTERED  AND  SLOWLY 


The  MOUNTED  THE  STAIRSTOTHE  PRESENTATION  CHAM- 
Lady  Isis  in  BER,  TRAVERSING  THE  SPACIOUS  AND  BEAUTIFUL  IN- 
Bohemia  TERIOR  OF  THE  TEMPLE.  THE  BANQUETERS  6P  OTHERS 
FOLLOWED  WITH  DUE  DECORUM.  WHEN  ALL  WERE 
ASSEMBLED  AND  THE  MUMMY  IN  ITS  CLOSED  SAR- 
COPHAGUS PLACED  UPRIGHT  IN  A  SPECIALLY  PRE- 
PARED NICHE  NEAR  THE  STAGE,  THE  EGYPTIAN  MU- 
SIC, WHICH  HAD  BEEN  CHANTED  SINCE  THE  CHORIS- 
TERS LEFT  THE  DINING-ROOM,  STOPPED.  Jf  Jf  Jf  Jf 

JJTMR.FIELDTHEN  PRESENTED  MR.STEELE,WHO  READ 
THEFOLLOWINGPAPER::FeUowBohemians:Theword"mum- 
my"  is  of  Arabic  derivation.  It  may  be  translated  "live  one"— in  the 
past  tense.  As  used  by  the  Arabs,  the  word  meant  "bitumen."  Bitu- 
men, as  you  know,  is  sticky.  It  is  probable  that  when  the  undertaker 
in  the  shadow  of  the  pyramids  had  turned  out  a  case  of  Egyptian  pre- 
serves he  called  it  a  mummy  because  he  knew  it  was  likely  to  stick 
around  forever.  Jf  A  brief  consideration  of  the  mummy  inevitably 
takes  one  back  to  those  embalmy  days  along  the  Nile.  The  body  of 
Ra-Nefer,  found  in  a  tomb  at  Medum,  shows  that  the  preserving  art 
was  practiced  six  thousand  years  ago.  In  his  simple  way  Ra-Nefer 
was  like  many  a  misguided  Bohemian— when  the  time  came  to  de- 
part he  was  unwilling  to  go,  although  he  knew  his  friends  were  likely 
to  get  him  pickled  if  he  stayed.  Jf  It  was  a  thorough  process  by  which 
the  ancients  rendered  the  human  body  Class  A.  First  the  brain  was 
removed,  then  the  heart  and  bowels,  and  after  the  cavities  had  been 
washed  with  palm  wine,  they  were  packed  with  pounded  perfumes, 
cassia  and  myrrh.  The  body  was  then  steeped  in  a  natron  bath  for 
seventy  days,  after  which  it  was  wrapped  in  flaxen  cloth  and  smeared 
with  gum.  The  process  was  a  slow  one,  but  the  mummy  was  believed 
to  have  all  the  time  there  was.  It  is  recorded  that  for  the  highest 
class  of  work  the  undertaker  received  a  single  talent,  which  was 
equal  to  fourteen  hundred  dollars.  Jf  This  mixing  of  money  and  tal- 
ent brings  us  naturally  to  our  own  Bohemia.  And  there  is  a  finer 
unity  than  might  be  expected  between  4000  B.  C.  and  the  "B.  C."of 
our  own  sweet  day.  There  is  a  unity  of  purpose;  the  changes  the 
centuries  have  brought  have  been  merely  changes  of  method.  The 


Bohemian  of  the  time  of  our  Lady  Isis,  like  the  Bohemian  of  ours,  The 
beheld  on  every  side  the  swift  promise  of  his  end,  and  cried  out  in  Lady  Isis  in 
the  agony  of  his  soul  that  "Death  is  wrong!"  He  swore  to  do  his  Bohemia 
mightiest  to  frustrate  death.  With  a  cunning  of  sweet  spices  and 
mysterious  drugs  he  bound  the  body— bound  the  senseless  clay— so 
that  it  might  forever  laugh  back  into  the  face  of  Fate.  j£f  Today  we 
know  he  mocked  not  Fate,  but  mocked  himself  alone.  He  only  bound 
the  clay.  His  mighty  effort  is  a  jest  upon  our  lips.  For  when  the  brain, 
the  heart,  and  the  "bowels"  of  the  man  are  torn  away,  Bohemia  says 
no  single  thing  remains  that  need  be  saved.  Jtf  But  Hope— Hope 
flares  for  us  as  brightly  as  it  flared  for  him  who  fought  extinction  in 
the  morning  of  the  world.  A  way  we  have,  a  trick  Bohemians  know, 
to  thwart  the  vast  conniving  of  Old  Death.  u^We  lay  no  hand  upon 
insensate  clay,  but  plan  a  joyous  undertaking  with  the  thing  we  call 
our  life.  We  tear  no  part  away  except  the  scales  that  make  the  good- 
ness of  another's  deed  look  small.  We  pack  the  secret  chambers  with 
the  frankincense  of  sympathy  and  friendship's  sacred  myrrh.  The 
natron  bath  is  loyalty.  The  flaxen  cloth  we  weave  from  threads  of 
faith  upon  the  loom  of  earnest  striving  toward  the  best  we  know. 
We  seal  the  cloth  in  place  with  cerements  of  compassion.  uSJFThus 
when— six  thousand  years  from  now,  or  sixteen  times  six  thousand 
years— a  wiser  generation  finds  a  radiance  and  a  perfume  in  the  place 
that  sheltered  us,  may  they  exclaim:  "They  did  not  die!  They  live— 
because  they  loved!"^  J»J»J»J»J»J&J»J»J»J»J» 

J»  MR.  REDDING  THEN  READ  THE  SUBJOINED  PAPER: : 
The  Mystery  of  Death:  If  there  is  one  trait  more  than  any  other 
which  distinguishes  the  character  of  humanity  today,  it  is  conceit, 
vanity,  and  a  general  lack  of  reverence  for  the  established  institutions 
of  the  past,  the  beliefs  of  the  past,  and  the  knowledge  and  wisdom 
of  ancient  days.  Jtf  We  know  it  all!u$Flt  is  true  that  there  has 
been  unfolded  during  the  last  two  or  three  hundred  years  a  knowl" 
edge  of  some  of  the  great  laws  of  the  universe,  concerning  which 
the  whole  world  hitherto  had  been  in  entire  ignorance.  Jf  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  Supreme  Intelligence  were  permitting  us  of  today  to 
become  acquainted  with  many  of  the  secret  processes  of  the  world's 
machinery,  in  order  to  note  just  how  far  we  will  run  riot  in  our  vanity, 


The  disdainfully  sneering  at  the  woeful  condition  of  general  ignorance 
Lady  Isis  in  that  prevailed  three  hundred  or  three  thousand  years  ago.  Jtf  We 
Bohemia  do  know  that  all  religions  and  theologies  were  born  and  established 
at  a  time  when  the  great  laws  of  nature  were  practically  unknown. 
Jtf  Reverence  is  founded  on  faith,  and  mystery  is  an  element  of  faith. 
Demonstration  destroys  faith,  for  it  does  away  with  mystery.  J&F  We 
are  now  at  the  other  extreme— we  know  it  all!  Nothing  is  sacred; 
the  Gods  of  the  Egyptians,  the  God  of  the  Jews,  the  Gods  of  Olym' 
pus,  the  God  of  the  Druids,  the  God  of  the  Popes  and  of  the  Protes- 
tants, are  all  puppets  of  the  past  and  of  no  more  importance  than 
mud  idols  or  stone  images  of  primeval  peoples.  Our  God  is  a  great 
scheme  of  illimitable  magnificence,  and  we  today  are  becoming  con- 
fidentially acquainted  with  the  machinery  of  this  scheme.  Farewell, 
poor,  benighted,  ignorant  Past  \jtf  Oh,  vanity,  vanity,  all  is  vanity !  Jf 
There  is  one  great  mystery  still  unsolved,  which  lies  at  the  base,  at 
the  root  of  all  religion,  and  concerning  which  we  have  not  made  one 
more  tittle  of  progress  toward  solution  than  the  countless  millions 
of  the  world's  inhabitants  during  five  thousand  years— the  great 
mystery  of  death.  Jjf  Ah,  now  we  become  modest  once  more;  our 
conceit  leaves  us,  for  our  ego  begins  to  tremble.  What  is  death?  Not 
somebody  else's  death,  but  yours  and  mine!  What  becomes  of  me, 
this  me  which  dictates  to  this  body,  where  and  when  it  shall  walk, 
sit,  come,  and  go  tjtf  There  is  no  one  present  but  who  has  watched 
the  last  flickering  light  fade  and  disappear  from  the  eye  of  another 
human  being,  and  the  wonder  question  has  whispered  upon  our  lips, 
What  is  this  mystery  of  death?  Now  are  we  back  among  the  Egyp- 
tians, asking  the  same  question,  and  this  modern  God  of  ours  be- 
comes the  silent  Sphinx  of  old,  and  we  are  all  children  together,  beg- 
ging for  an  answer,  and  no  answer  comes. utf  If  we  are  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  intelligent  experience  of  a  people  who  five  thousand 
years  ago  were  trying  to  solve  this  great  mystery,  it  may  moderate 
our  own  attitude  of  today;  it  may  give  us  pause  in  this  material,  sar- 
castic, snobbish,  know-it-all  point  of  view  which  we  have  assumed, 
because  we  happen  to  have  found  out  the  law  of  gravitation,  of  wire- 
less telegraphy,  of  high  explosives,  or  a  few  other  of  the  dynamics 
of  the  universe.  Jtf  Four  thousand  years  ago  there  was  a  people  of 
the  highest  intelligence  and  education  living  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile, 


and  their  Capital  was  the  city  of  Thebes.  When  I  say  Intelligence,  The 

I  mean  from  our  standards— from  the  standard  of  President  Eliot  Lady  Isis  in 

of  Harvard,  of  Cardinal  Newman,  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  of  Michel-  Bohemia 

angelo,  of  Phidias,  of  Homer,  of  Solomon.Thebes,the  splendid  city  of 

one  hundred  gates!  Fourteen  miles  in  circumference,  and  filled  with 

architectural  splendor,  the  remaining  fragments  of  which  today,  in 

their  dignity,  beauty,  and  purity,  are  a  cause  for  wonderment.  There 

are  paintings  upon  its  walls  which  are  as  fresh  in  the  twentieth  cen' 

tury  as  they  were  thirty 'fiye  hundred  years  ago.  Jtf  Unearthed  from 

an  Egyptian  tomb,  where  it  had  reposed  for  nearly  forty  centuries, 

there  now  lies  in  the  British  Museum  a  great  scroll  of  papyrus.  Its 

contents  are  beautifully  illuminated  and  perfectly  preserved.  It  is 

called  "The  Book  of  the  Dead."  This  document  contains  a  ritual  and 

code  of  procedure  to  be  followed  by  the  soul,  in  order  to  reach  eter' 

nal  happiness.  The  Egyptians  of  that  remote  period  believed  in  the 

soul.  This  ritual  declares  that  the  soul,  after  leaving  the  body,  wan' 

ders  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death— this  is  the  exact  Ian' 

guage.  This  wandering  soul  had  to  answer  forty 'two  questions  con' 

cerning  moral  conduct.  Each  question  had  to  be  answered  in  the 

negative,  and  embraced  the  following:  I  have  not  stolen;  I  have  not 

made  to  weep;  I  have  not  committed  murder;  I  have  not  tampered 

with  weights  or  measures;  I  have  not  cheated  or  conspired;  I  have 

not  committed  adultery;  I  have  not  borne  false  witness.  JjJPThese 

questions  thus  being  answered,  the  soul  was  resurrected  and  sat  at 

the  right  hand  of  Osiris,  the  God  of  all  Gods,  and  the  embodiment 

of  goodness.  Jit  In  presenting  this  confessional,  I  have  stripped  it  of 

its  mummery.  The  Egyptians  employed  symbols,  as  other  religions 

have  done  and  do  today.  Impressive  panorama  and  optical  show 

have  always  been  effective  to  arouse  the  emotions,  and  there  again 

comes  in  the  element  of  mystery.  Taking  the  essence  of  this  most 

ancient  belief,  it  differs  not  at  all  from  that  preached  today  from  ten 

thousand  pulpits  throughout  our  civilised  world.  Jtf  The  oldest 

known  book  in  the  world  is  carefully  guarded  in  the  National  Li' 

brary  at  Paris.  It  is  an  original  Egyptian  papyrus,  written  fully  five 

thousand  years  ago.  It  contains  the  precepts  and  teachings  uttered 

by  the  ministers  of  that  remote  epoch— two  thousand  years  before 

Moses  wrote  on  Mount  Sinai— twentyfive  hundred  years  before  Sol' 


The  omon  set  forth  his  proverbs.These  precepts  not  only  covered  the  en- 
Lady  Isis  in  tire  decalogue,  but,  almost  in  similar  phraseology,  they  run  the  gamut 
Bohemia  of  the  rules  of  moral  conduct  laid  down  throughout  the  OldTesta- 
ment.  JJ^"Give  me  to  drink  of  running  water.  Let  me  be  placed  by 
the  edge  of  the  water,  with  my  face  to  the  North,  that  the  breeze 
may  caress  me  and  my  heart  be  refreshed  from  sorrow."UJ?"I  have 
made  me  an  house,  adorned  with  gold,  its  ceilings  with  lapis  lazuli, 
its  walls  having  deep  foundations;  its  doors  are  of  copper,  their  bolts 
are  of  bronze.  It  is  made  forever-lasting.  Behold  that  which  I  have 
done  at  the  beginning;  let  me  set  it  in  order  for  my  soul  at  the  end." 
Jtf  There  were  poets  in  those  days,  of  the  highest  imagination.  Jtf 
The  life  within  us  cries  out  for  some  proof  of  immortality.  For  five 
thousand  years  of  recorded  history  aft  mankind  has  had  a  belief,  a 
conviction,  that  the  death  of  the  body  is  not  oblivion,  but  always 
coupled  with  fear  and  doubt. What  is  the  world  beyond?  Is  there  a 
doubt? UflFThis  body  is  an  instrument  and  our  soul  is  the  theme,  the 
melody,  that  is  heard  upon  that  instrument.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  strings  become  worn  and  weak  with  time?  Do  we  not  abuse 
the  body?  Is  it  not  struck  with  discords  and  strained  with  daily  labor? 
Is  it  not  natural  that  the  time  shall  come  when  the  poor  tired  in- 
strument will  refuse  to  respond  to  the  theme?  Jtf  But  the  theme  it- 
self does  not  die;  it  lives  on  forever.  It  will  find  another  instrument 
upon  which  to  play  its  melody.  Where  and  under  what  environment, 
each  of  us  will  know  at  the  appointed  hour.  This  is  why  I  believe 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  jjf  There  is  a  presence  here  tonight. 
Jtf  Far,  far  away,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile,  thirty-five  hundred  years 
ago,  an  immortal  soul  vibrated  through  that  form.Therein  for  a  little 
time  a  spirit  had  its  abode.Tears  and  laughter  played  their  part.The 
wonderful  old  story— and  yet  ever  new— of  beauty,  youth,  and  love 
was  whispered  among  the  palms.ufl^The  tramp  and  thunder  of  count- 
less centuries  have  intervened;  yet  tonight  the  mortal  clay,  with 
folded  arms  and  eyelids  closed,  is  here  before  us,  still  undissolved  by 
time.  Jtf  Let  us  pay  tribute  to  this  presence  in  all  solemnity.  In  mould 
and  fashion  it  is  but  the  counterpart  of  ourselves.  uflFWho  knows 
but  what  that  spirit  is  hovering  above  us,  and  could  we  but  hear 
the  voice,  it  would  say: 


"Deal  gently  with  what  here  you  look  upon,  The 

For  it  was  once  my  earthly  habitation.  Lady  Isis  in 

I  was  beloved  in  that  mortal  form:  Bohemia 

Its  beauty  won  the  first'born  of  a  king. 
This  was  but  yesterday- 
Farewell,  until  we  meet— tomorrow." 

lj*FMR.LYNCH  THEN  PRESENTED  THE  MUMMY TOTHE 
BOHEMIAN  CLUB  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  TERMS: :  A  score 
and  four  years  ago  an  Egyptian  princess  was  enshrined  within  these 
realms  of  Bohemia.  Jjf  Here  she  reposed  calm  and  tranquil  on  her 
secluded  throne,  the  tutelary  goddess  of  Bohemia's  devotees.tjflFFrom 
the  worship  of  Amon-Ra  to  that  of  St.  John,  from  Olden  Egypt  to 
the  Newer  World,  was  she  borne,  sleeping  the  sleep  of  centuries. 
Ravished  from  the  distant  tomb  on  Nilus's  banks,  where  she  abode 
in  the  bosom  of  Osiris,  her  mummy  was  transferred  to  unknown  re' 
gions,  where  amid  unknown  accents  she  rested  with  a  race  and  re" 
ligion  unknown  to  herself  or  the  people  of  her  land.  The  Pharaohs 
of  her  royal  lineage,  demigods  of  their  era,  if  they  but  knew,  how 
they  must  have  resented  this  wilful,  impious  desecration  of  her 
sepulchre!  If  they  but  knew,  how  they  must  have  condemned  the 
impotence  and  sacrilege  of  men,  bearing  away  the  body  of  this  fair 
daughter  of  Egypt,  from  where  they  had  so  lovingly  and  lingeringly 
deposited  it  thousands  of  years  ago,  only  to  witness  later  its  destruc' 
tion  by  fire!  If  they  but  knew!  If  they  but  knew!  Ah!  if  we  but  knew! 
JjJFOnce  they  were  and  now  they  are  not;  and  that  is  the  sum  we 
know!  utfFlt  would  have  been  better  to  leave  the  princess  where  she 
was  entombed,  clothed  in  her  golden  and  purple  cerements  and  gar' 
landed  with  lotus-blossoms.  It  would  have  been  better  to  leave  her 
undisturbed  in  her  rock'cut  tomb  than  to  have  her  precious  form  for' 
ever  obliterated— a  brief  flame  in  a  city's  holocaust.  Jf  If  there  be  no 
immortality,  what  thrice  damned  fools  indeed  are  we,  and  how  mu' 
table  and  futile  are  our  most  sacred  and  resolved  actions!  The  ancient 
Egyptians  believed  that  if  the  body  remained  intact  and  unrifled  for 
a  cycle  of  three  thousand  years,  at  the  end  of  that  period  the  Ka,  or 
Spirit  soul,  would  return  from  the  underworld  of  Osiris  and  re-enter 
its  earthly  receptacle,  a  reincarnation— that  is,  provided  that  that 


The  Ka  had  successfully  passed  the  ordeal  of  judgment  of  the  forty-two 
Lady  Isis  in  judges  who  with  Osiris  and  Anubis  at  their  head  balanced  in  scales 
Bohemia  of  infinite  delicacy  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  suppliant.  Therefore, 
these  ancients  embalmed  their  dead  so  thoroughly  and  secreted  the 
mummies  so  studiously.  Therefore,  they  erected  pyramids,  each  one 
being  a  separate  and  gigantic  tomb  for  its  builder,  and  so  well  was 
the  Cyclopean  undertaking  executed  that  the  mummy  of  the  third 
and  last  pyramid  builder,  Pharaoh  Mycerinus,  was  found  and  re' 
moved  from  its  stone  sarcophagus  in  the  pyramid  but  a  century  ago, 
after  six  thousand  years  of  peace  and  silence— removed  after  six  thou- 
sand  years  of  Nirvana  and  Nepenthe,  only  to  be  lost  in  the  depths 
of  the  stormy  sea.  He  lies  deep  down  in  the  fabled  isles  of  Atlantis, 
from  whence  perhaps  his  forbears  originally  sprung.  JfffThe  process 
of  embalming  was  not  intricate.  Jf  Immediately  after  death,  the  per- 
ishable inside  organs  were  removed,  the  brain  through  the  nostrils 
and  those  of  the  body  through  an  incision  made  in  the  side.  The 
head  and  the  abdomen  were  filled  with  a  compound  resembling  bitu- 
men, through  the  same  orifices,  and  the  body  was  then  immersed  in  a 
liquid  called  natron  for  seventy-five  days.jjflFThe  exact  composition 
of  this  natron  is,  I  believe,  unknown,  although  doubtless  modern  sci- 
ence could  do  as  much.  Then  the  mummy  was  swathed  from  head 
to  foot  in  hundreds  of  yards  of  fine  hand-made  muslin,  of  a  texture 
so  minute  that  only  children  of  eight  to  ten  years  could  fashion  it, 
for  at  that  age  the  eyes  are  clearest  and  strongest.  Jjf  Of  course  this 
was  expensive,  and  apart  from  the  Pharaohs  themselves,  the  regal 
families,  ladies  of  the  Court,  and  dignitaries,  embalming  was  con- 
fined to  the  landed  aristocracy  and  generals  triumphant  in  war.Jjp 
Moreover,  the  process  was  not  always  uniform  nor  thorough,  and 
many  carefully  prepared  mummies  were  found  imperfect.  J^There 
was  a  guild  or  union  of  embalmers,  especially  dedicated  to  the  Pha- 
raohs, or  kings,  whose  continued  existence  throughout  all  the  ages 
of  Egypt's  earlier  history  is  full  known  and  proven.  One  of  their 
most  sacred  and  binding  functions,  never  forgotten,  was  to  unwrap, 
repair,  and  rewrap  the  mummy  of  each  Pharaoh  every  five  hundred 
years.  Jtf  On  the  coverings  of  Rameses  II  and  Merenptah,  father  and 
son,  whose  mummies  now  lie  in  the  Cairo  Museum,  can  be  seen  the 
attestations  of  the  embalmers,  stating  the  era  when  they  had  last 


unrolled  the  bodies,  and  adding  how  often  this  religious  duty  had  The 
been  previously  executed.  JJF  Rameses  II  was  the  Pharaoh  in  whose  Lady  Isis  in 
reign  the  Jews  were  said  to  have  been  persecuted,  and  Merenp-  Bohemia 
tah,  his  son,  was  the  Pharaoh  during  whose  life  occurred  the  ten 
plagues  of  Egypt  and  the  Exodus  of  the  Jews  under  the  guidance 
of  Moses.  Jf  When  I  assure  you  that  the  veritable  bodies  of  these 
monarchs— incontestably  proven,  for  the  name  and  dynasty  written 
in  hieroglyphics  on  the  coverings  are  read  by  Egyptologists  as  easily 
as  a  learned  professor  reads  Greek— lie  today  uncovered,  and  to  be 
seen  of  all  men  thirty  -odd  centuries  after  interment,  these  men  who 
conversed  with  Moses,  it  brings  the  Biblical  and  legendary  Past  in 
startling  association  with  the  skeptical  and  scientific  Present.  j£f 
This  period  of  five  hundred  years  for  the  exhuming  and  re-entomb- 
ing  of  the  mummies  is  supposed  to  be  associated  with  the  life  of  the 
Phoenix,  the  typical  Egyptian  bird  or  emblem,  whose  image  is  placed 
in  every  temple,  on  every  coffin  and  sarcophagus,  and  which  was 
said  to  be  revived  from  its  ashes,  as  we  all  know,  every  five  centuries. 
J@f  Embalming  as  a  complex  art  ceased  before  the  Christian  Era,  and 
ever  since,  especially  of  late  years,  old  tombs  have  been  discovered, 
opened,  and  rifled.  The  Egyptians  buried  with  the  dead,  beads,  amu- 
lets, scarabees,  and  gems,  of  more  or  less  intrinsic  or  relative  value, 
and  the  Arabs,  knowing  this,  searched  and  delved  for  them  like  we 
do  for  gold.  So,  it  is  obvious  that  their  numbers  are  gradually  dimin- 
ishing and  the  difficulty  of  locating  them  increasing.  Moreover,  as 
recent  discoveries  and  researches  are  making  the  history  of  ancient 
Egypt  better  known,  it  becomes  more  interesting,  and  almost  every 
college  and  museum  of  note  all  over  the  world  long  and  clamor  for 
one  of  these  valued  mementoes  of  antiquity.  There  are  today  seven 
different  private  organizations,  representing  associations,  in  Europe 
and  America,  excavating  at  various  places  in  Egypt,  to  which  they 
have  been  assigned  by  the  museum  authorities,  for  they  are  not  per- 
mitted to  choose,  and  if  any  object  of  value  or  interest  is  discovered, 
the  government  reserves  the  right  to  sequester  the  same  for  the 
Cairo  Museum,  which  is  surely  just,  for  where  should  Egyptian  relics 
and  Pharaohs  rest  if  not  in  Egypt?  If  not  under  the  soil,  then  they 
should  remain  over  the  soil  by  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  j£  I  may  add 
that  a  mummy  in  good  condition— that  is,  one  of  the  early  dynasties, 


The  with  the  body  and  the  sarcophagus  in  fair  preservation— has  not 
Lady  Isis  in  been  found  in  two  years. When  discoveries  cease,  those  existing  will 
Bohemia  become  almost  invaluable.  Except  members  of  the  hierarchy  and  the 
castes  that  I  have  enumerated,  all  other  Egyptians  were  buried  with' 
out  coffins,  piled  loosely  together  in  shallow  pits  on  the  desert's  edge, 
or  placed  in  narrow  chambers,  one  above  the  other,  in  the  rocky 
hills,  like  steamer  berths.  These  were  scarce  concealed.  Time  opened 
the  doors,  and  their  scattered  bones  were  to  be  found  contiguous  to 
every  ancient  cemetery.  JSP  While  building  the  first  railway  in  Egypt, 
some  forty  years  ago,  the  native  laborers  often  lighted  the  evening 
fires  on  the  desert  with  the  inflammable  mummies  of  their  ancestors. 
Jf  They  have  been  bartered  to  chemists  and  the  bodies  ground  for 
medical  purposes.  The  mummies  which  Cambyses  or  time  has  spared 
avarice  now  consumes.  "Misraim  cures  wounds  and  Pharaoh  is  sold 
for  balsams."i4pThe  Lady  Isis  lived,  loved,  and  vanished  nearly  three 
thousand  years  past  and  gone.  As  indicated  by  the  exquisite  muslin 
bands  that  enclose  her  mummy  and  the  fine  finish  of  the  hieroglyphics 
on  the  solid  sycamore  sarcophagus,  she  sprung  from  an  opulent  and 
accredited  family.  Jf  From  the  fact  that  she  was  a  lady  of  the  Court, 
it  is  thought  that  her  people  were  of  the  old  aristocratic  caste,  rather 
than  those  ennobled  or  enriched  because  of  some  signal  service  ren- 
dered the  Pharaohs.These  latter,  if,  for  example,  they  came  from  a  suc- 
cessful chieftain,  or  as  the  result  of  the  warlike  deeds  of  some  heroic 
ancestor,  were  usually  chosen  as  the  governors  of  provinces  or  the 
heads  of  army  divisions,  distant  from  the  Capital,  for  only  after  sev- 
eral generations  were  their  posterity  permitted  to  mingle  and  asso- 
ciate with  the  intimate  religious  and  mysterious  life  of  the  Court.  Jjf 
When  The  Lady  Isis  lived,  the  Capital  was  Thebes,  for  she  dwelt  in 
that  intermediate  age  when  Egypt  was  yet  shining,  though  declining, 
and  before  the  foreigner  came.The  glory  and  renown  of  Thebes  with 
its  hundred  gates  and  marvelous  memories  had  not  faded.  Jtf  She 
must  have  seen  the  splendid  priestly  processions  advancing  slowly 
along  the  spacious  highway  bordering  the  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  en- 
closed between  double  rows  of  black  granite  impassive  sphinxes,  the 
entire  distance  of  two  miles,  from  Thebes  to  Karnak-^She  must 
have  seen  and  adored  the  godlike  Pharaoh  borne  aloft  by  sable  slaves, 
on  his  brow  the  Ureaus  or  Asp,  emblem  of  royalty,  and  his  uncov- 


The  ered  hands  holding  the  sceptre  and  the  flail,  emblems  of  a  something 
Lady  Isis  in  far  above  royalty,  for  they  represented  and  remembered  Life  and 
Bohemia  Death.  j£f  She  must  have  seen  the  high  priest  with  his  haughty  port 
and  mien  rivaling  the  Pharaoh  himself  on  his  lofty  throne,  and  the 
long  line  of  leopard-clad  priests,  holding  above,  the  many  bright 
symbols  that  glittered  in  the  sunlight.  She  must  have  seen,  following 
these  others,  the  company  of  black-robed  women,  proceeding  with 
dignified  decorum— priestesses  of  the  temples  of  Isis,  from  whence 
came  the  name  of  our  guest.  She  must  have  seen  and  heard  the  many 
harps  with  their  almost  Eolian  melody,  and  the  end  of  the  cortege 
in  the  dark-brown  Ethiopians  and  lighter  copper-colored  Egyptian 
soldiers  bearing  spears  surmounted  with  images  of  Osiris,  Isis,Thoth, 
Anubis,  and  other  Gods  of  the  Egyptian  pantheon,  waved  slowly  to 
and  fro  in  the  hasy,  sultry,  somber  Nile  atmosphere.  Far  away  across 
the  sacred  river  to  the  west  she  could  observe  the  Ramesseum,  the 
two  colossi,  the  monuments  of  Medinet,  and,  above  all,  clinging  to 
the  side  of  the  hill  like  a  Phoenix,  the  lovely  temple  of  Queen  Hat- 
shepsu,  with  its  scarlet  walls  and  terraces,  rivaling  in  their  carmine 
colors  the  setting  sun  whose  dying  rays  illumined  the  granite  group 
of  Hathor  and  Hatshepsu— the  goddess  and  the  queen.  uflFThe  Egyp- 
tians worshiped  the  sun  under  the  name  of  Amon-Ra.  The  other 
Gods  had  more  or  less  local  significance,  except,  of  course,  Osiris,  who 
typified  a  legend.  Jf  The  legend  runs  that  Osiris  and  Set  were  broth- 
ers. Osiris  married  their  sister,  Isis.  In  revenge,  Set  slew  Osiris  and 
secreted  portions  of  his  body  in  nineteen  different  places.  Isis  under- 
took the  grievous  task  of  finding  and  uniting  these  severed  portions 
of  her  husband's  remains  to  the  head  which  she  discovered  at  Aby- 
dos.  Therefore,  at  Abydos,  which  was  to  the  Egyptians  as  Jerusalem 
was  to  the  Christians,  or  Mecca  to  the  Moslems,  Osiris  sits  forever 
in  judgment  on  the  dead,  while  his  brother  Set  indicates  evil  and 
mischance.  Jtf  Isis,  to  whom  women  especially  may  appeal,  dwells 
on  the  earth.  The  offspring  of  Osiris  and  Isis  was  Horus,  whose  name 
was  later  changed  to  Amon-Ra,  the  Sun.  JJpThe  Egyptians  observed 
that  all  light  and  life  came  from  the  sun,  and  that  daily  it  went  anew 
its  course.  Jf  Therefore,  as  life  and  existence  both  of  themselves  and 
the  earth  depended  upon  its  shining  orb,  it  was  not  strange  that  to 
it  they  gave  all  homage  and  adoration.  Jtf  There  was  nothing  debased 


or  uncanny  in  this  belief.  The  Zoroastrians,  or  Parsees,  hold  it  to  The 
this  day.  Their  God  was  an  active,  beneficent  being,  who  gave  them  Lady  Isis  in 
warmth,  and  food,  and  light.  How  much  more  do  we  know  today?  Bohemia 
How  much  wiser  are  we?  Who  can  confute  their  tenet  with  superior 
knowledge?  How  much  more  do  we  know,  I  say,  even  after  the  pas- 
sage  of  so  many  centuries?  For  the  rest,  the  ancient  Egyptians  were 
the  first  of  mankind  to  create  what  we  call  civilisation.  ^jflFThey  were 
the  very  first  race  to  arise  from  the  marsh  of  primitive  barbarism. 
They  enacted  just  and  natural  laws.  They  first  wrote  on  stone  and 
paper.  They  explored  the  heavens.  They  constructed  edifices  which 
yet  endure.  They  were  frugal,  moral,  and  temperate.  Their  numbers 
included  artists  and  architects,  statesmen  and  scribes.  J&  For  forty 
centuries  they  kept  Egypt  peaceful,  happy,  and  unconquered,  until 
they  were  submerged  by  the  waves  of  time,  which  sooner  or  later 
reach  us  all,  animate  or  inanimate.  It  was  among  these  people  that 
The  Lady  Isis  lived,  and  it  was  among  these  people  that  The  Lady  Isis 
died.  On  the  funerary  boat  her  mummy  was  placed  and  transported 
across  the  flowing  Nile,  fringed  with  bending  palms  and  lofty  papy- 
rus'reeds.  Her  sarcophagus  within  and  without  was  filled  and  cov 
ered  with  the  sacred  and  mysterious  Iotus4eaves.  Under  the  shadow 
of  the  barren,  burnt  cliffs  in  whose  unknown  recesses  were  con" 
cealed  the  bodies  of  forty 'two  Pharaohs,  all  of  whom  had  reigned 
over  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  and  their  tributaries,  even  to  the  Black 
Sea,  had  been  excavated  for  The  Lady  Isis,  beloved  of  priests  and 
people,  her  sepulchre  deep  down  in  the  rocky  glen  and  far  from  the 
radiance  of  Amon-Ra.  J^F  Cunningly  had  they  fashioned  it,  and  cun' 
ningly  did  they  remove  all  traces  of  the  place  of  sepulture.  The  harp- 
ists sang  their  songs,  the  priests  burnt  the  offerings  to  Osiris,  and 
the  mourners  went  their  way. 

"Is  Life  a  boon? 
Then  Death  whene'er  he  call 
Must  call  too  soon." 

J&F  Well  did  the  artisans  do  their  work.The  Lady  Isis  rested  unknown 
and  forgotten  under  Egypt's  soil,  while  generations  and  generations 
lived  and  died.  J&F  The  Persian,  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  the  Arab  mar- 
shaled their  armies,  and  disappeared.  Alexander,  Hannibal,  Caesar 


The  drank  of  the  Nile  waters,  and  inscribed  their  names  on  the  world's 
Lady  Isis  in  walls.  The  Macedonian  phalanx,  the  Roman  legion,  the  knightly  Crii' 
Bohemia  saders  disturbed  not  her  slumber.  The  worship  of  Amon'Ra  and  the 
old  Gods  faded  like  a  sunbeam  in  the  twilight.  The  stranger  swept 
over  the  land  and  brought  new  rituals,  new  religions.  The  Cross  and 
the  Crescent  mounted  to  the  stars,  and  the  tomb  of  the  God  Apis 
moldered  under  the  drifting  sands.  J&  The  glory  and  the  renown  of 
Thebes  vanished  and  gone  are  her  hundred  gates  of  bronze,  from 
each  one  of  which  issued  a  thousand  armed  men.Abydos  is  deserted, 
Memphis  a  marsh,  and  On,  the  city  of  Plato,  an  obelisk.  Overthrown 
are  her  temples  and  desolate  her  cities.  The  Nile  courses  amid  un- 
known  ruins,  and  her  very  language  was  forgotten,  that  language 
which  they  carved  in  the  solid  granite  that  it  might  everlastingly 
and  forever  guard  their  history;  that  very  language  was  lost  for  cen' 
turies  and  centuries.  And  now  The  Lady  Isis  herself  is  borne  up' 
ward  from  the  dark  dominions  of  Osiris  to  the  radiance  and  efful' 
gence  of  Amon'Ra.  She  is  wafted  from  Egypt  over  oceans  vast  and 
hemispheres;  worlds  unthought  of  and  undreamt.  She  comes  to  a  re' 
gion  where  Amon'Ra  reigns  as  serene  and  supreme  as  over  her  own 
forsaken  Egypt.  Jtf  And  within  that  region  lies  the  republic  of  Bo' 
hernia,  whence  Care  is  banished  and  gentle  Pleasure  presides;  whence 
the  storms  of  the  world  are  stilled  and  peace  prevails;  a  land  that 
will  exist  even  longer  than  Egypt,  for  friendship  and  all  charity  build 
and  protect  its  temples. 

To  you,  then, O  Bohemians,!  present  The  Lady  Isis: 
Born  of  the  oldest  East,  she  seeks  her  rest 
In  this  fair  City  of  the  Youngest  West. 
I  beseech  you,  guard  her  tenderly; 
Preserve  her,  I  pray  you,  forever  and  forever, 
In  this  shrine  of  Bohemia,  for  she  is  the  lonely  presence 
of  a  departed  race. 

J»  MR.  FIELD,  AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CLUB,  ACCEPTED 
THE  GIFT  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  TERMS: :  Mr.  Lynch,  on  be- 
half of  the  Club  I  accept  this  addition  to  our  treasures  and  express 
our  grateful  appreciation  of  this  notable  gift.  J&  Because  this  pres- 
entation  is  so  much  a  matter  of  sentiment,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I 


express  Bohemia's  appreciation  in  terms  of  a  personal  experience.  The 

Twenty  years  ago,  a  youngster  came  into  membership  in  the  Club  Lady  Isis  in 

and  found  in  the  companionship  of  Bohemia  a  wonderful  elaboration  Bohemia 

of  what  he  had  supposed  to  belong  only  to  the  enchanted  life  of  the 

college  campus  which  he  had  just  left  regretfully  behind  him.  One 

day  he  stood  in  the  hallway  by  the  library  door  before  the  glass  case 

which  held  the  predecessor  of  The  Lady  Isis,  and  thought  wistfully: 

"What  a  night  that  must  have  been  when  such  a  gift  was  received 

by  Bohemia!"  And  in  the  midst  of  his  new  joy  in  the  revelation  of 

the  Club's  significance  he  felt  a  pang  of  regret  that  he  had  come  into 

Bohemia  just  a  little  too  late.  Jtf  Well,  Time  has  played  his  strange 

game,  with  the  swing  of  twenty  years,  and  has  placed  in  the  hands 

of  that  same  member  the  privilege  of  conducting  just  such  another 

night  in  Bohemia.  I  have  had  a  very  happy  year  as  President  of  this 

Club,  and  this  night  is  a  finale  which  could  have  had  no  place  in  the 

dreams  of  that  youngster,  twenty  years  ago.  And  so,  not  only  for  the 

Club,  but  for  myself,  I  thank  you,  sir ! 


uflFTHE  UPPER  PARTOFTHE  SARCOPHAGUS  WASTHEN 
REMOVED,  &  AS  THE  SYCAMORE  COFFIN  CONSISTED 
OF  TWO  EQUAL  PARTS,  THE  BODY  AND  FACE  WERE 
CLEARLY  SEEN  SO  FAR  AS  THE  CLOSE-FITTING  CLOTH 
COVERINGS  WOULD  ADMIT.  IN  MEMORY  OF  THE  LO- 
TUS-FLOWERS WHICH  FILLED  HER  COFFIN  WHEN  SHE 
WAS  INTERRED,  THERE  HAD  BEEN  PLACED  IN  PROFU- 
SION OTHER  FLOWERS  RESEMBLING  THE  LOTUS,  UN- 
TIL THEYDROOPED  OVER  HER  HEAD  AND  BODY  WITH- 
IN AND  WITHOUT  THE  SARCOPHAGUS  EVEN  TO  THE 
BASE.  THEN  MR.  HOTALING,  STANDING  DIRECTLY  BE- 
HIND THE  COFFIN,  WHICH  WAS  UPRIGHT  IN  THE 
NICHE,  SO  THAT  HE  WAS  NOT  VISIBLE,  BUT  YET  WITH 
ADMIRABLE  SKILL  SO  USING  HIS  VOICE  THAT  IT 
SEEMED  TO  ISSUE  FROM  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  LADY  ISIS, 
RECITED  THE  ANNEXED  POEM.  THESE  VERSES  WERE 
WRITTEN  BYCHARLESWARREN  STODDARD  IN  EIGHT- 
EEN HUNDRED  6?  NINETY-ONE,  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF 
THE  RECEPTION  BY  THE  CLUB  OF  THE  FIRST  MUMMY, 


The  AND  MR.  LYNCH  BELIEVED  NOTHING  COULD  BE  BET- 

Lady  Isis  in  TER  THAN  TO  HAVE  THE  SAME  RECALLED  AND  RE- 

Bohemia  PEATED::THE  DAUGHTER  OF  PHARAOH  TO  BOHEMIA: 

Wherefore  these  revels  that  my  dull  eyes  greet? 
These  dancers,  dancing  at  my  fleshless  feet; 
These  harpers,  harping  vainly  at  my  ears 
Deaf  to  the  world,  lo!  thrice  a  thousand  years? 

Time  was  when  even  I  was  blithe:  I  knew 
The  murmur  of  the  flowing  wave,  where  grew 
The  lean, lithe  rushes;!  have  heard  the  moan 
Of  Nilus  in  prophetic  undertone. 

My  sire  was  monarch  of  a  mighty  race: 
Daughter  of  Pharaoh,  I;  before  my  face 
Myriads  of  grovelling  creatures  crawled,  to  thrust 
Their  fearful  foreheads  in  the  desert  dust. 

Above  me  gleamed  and  glowed  my  palace  walls: 
There  bloomed  my  bowers;  and  there,  my  waterfalls 
Lulled  me  in  languors;  slaves  with  feather  flails 
Fretted  the  tranquil  air  to  gentle  gales. 

O,my  proud  palms!  my  royal  palms,  that  stood 
In  stately  groups,  a  queenly  sisterhood! 
And  O!  my  sphinxes,  gating  eye  in  eye, 
Down  the  dim  vistas  of  eternity. 

Where  be  ye  now?  And  where  am  I  at  last? 
With  gay  Bohemia  is  my  portion  cast; 
Born  of  the  oldest  East,  I  seek  my  rest 
In  the  fair  city  of  the  youngest  West. 

Farewell,  O  Egypt!  Naught  can  thee  avail; 
What  tarries  now  to  tell  thy  sorry  tale? 
A  sunken  temple  that  the  sands  have  hid! 
The  tapering  shadow  of  a  pyramid! 


And  now  my  children,  harbour  me  not  ill;  The 

I  was  a  princess,  am  a  woman  still.  Lady  Isis  in 

Gibe  me  no  gibes,  but  greet  me  at  your  best,  Bohemia 
As  I  was  wont  to  greet  the  stranger  guest. 

Feast  well,  drink  well,  make  merry  while  ye  may, 
For  e'en  the  best  of  you  must  pass  my  way. 
The  elder  as  the  youngster,  fair  to  see, 
Must  gird  his  marble  loins  and  follow  me. 

JfUR.  FIELD  THEN  READ  FROM  THE  PAPYRUS  OF 
THE  LADY  ISIS : :  "So,  then,  on  that  evening  when  the  young  moon 
hung  above  the  temples  by  the  Nile's  green  edge,  I  came  into  that 
fane  of  Isis  which  is  nearest  the  softly  flowing  river.  Two  slaves  at" 
tended,  bringing  in  their  hands  heavy  'scented  flowers  for  the  divine 
one  whose  name  I  bear,  and  a  vessel  filled  with  precious  fragrances, 
the  breath  of  my  prayer  for  her  compassion.  So  came  I,  suppliant,  to 
her  lofty  hall.  With  mine  own  hands,  alone  there  in  her  temple,  I 
laid  my  offerings  at  the  feet  of  them  who  sit  so  solemnly  before  her. 
Then  prayed  I  from  the  depths  of  my  uneasy  heart,  imploring  the 
goddess  to  grant  me  peace  from  the  unwelcome  wooing  of  Tahrak, 
he  the  mightiest  of  the  princes  of  Thebes.  Jff  And  behold,  how  she 
answered  me— the  immortal  Isis!  Out  of  the  vastness  of  her  mercy 
she  heard  and  answered  me!  For  lo,  there  came  into  the  temple,  like 
a  breaking  of  clear  bells  at  sunrise,  Chephren,  the  youth  whom  I  had 
followed  with  my  eyes  at  Court  and  whom  I  dared  not  love,  since 
Heaven  had  set  him  lower  than  I  on  the  steps  of  Pharaoh's  throne. 
But  Isis  had  made  us  equals  in  the  tender  shadow  of  her  temple;  it 
was  her  hand  that  led  him  to  me,  and  I  knew  that  it  was  well.  Jtf 
So  therefore  came  he  to  me,  while  the  young  moon  glittered  in  the 
moving  water  and  the  ripple  of  the  river  in  the  reeds  was  like  his 
voice  as  he  told  me  of  his  love.  And  him  I  answered  joyously,  and 
together  we  danced  in  service  to  the  goddess— priest  and  priestess 
we  in  the  house  of  love.  Jtf  And  behold,  it  was  but  mockery,  for 
Tahrak  found  us  there— Tahrak,  the  implacable.  Black  with  rage  he 
came  upon  us  in  the  temple,  as  though  Isis  had  led  us  to  each  other's 
arms  and  then  turned  away  her  eyes  that  she  might  not  see  the 
geance  of  him  whom  I  had  scorned  at  Court.  But  Chephren  fell 


The  on  his  knees,  humble  before  the  prince,  and  implored  him  to  spare 
Lady  Isis  in  the  happiness  that  the  goddess  had  given  us.  And  when  the  dark 
Bohemia  prince  mocked  him  and  bade  him  begone,  scorning  to  kill  him,  the 
boy  sprang  upon  Tahrak  with  a  sudden  dagger.  But  men  may  not 
take  Tahrak  unawares.  With  a  great  laugh,  he  swept  the  young  arm 
aside  and  sent  his  own  dagger  home  into  the  fairest  body  among 
all  the  youth  of  Thebes.  J&F  And  then,  while  my  love  lay  in  eternal 
quiet  at  his  feet,  the  murderer  gave  voice  anew  to  the  passion  I  de- 
spised.  And  lo,  Isis  remembered  me  even  then  in  the  desperate  hour; 
it  was  she  that  made  the  temple  light  to  flash  from  his  jeweled  dagger 
to  my  wild  eyes.  Then  I  let  my  eyes  soften  with  pretended  love,  and 
I  came  near  to  him  as  though  in  yielding.  Then  snatched  I  the  dagger 
from  his  girdle  and  sent  it  deep  into  my  own  heart.  Wounded  al' 
ready  was  that  heart  by  a  thrust  of  that  same  dagger,  so  that  this 
second  blow  gave  no  pain,  only  a  sense  of  rest,  of  long,  long  sleep. 
jffAnd  behold,  Anubis,  conductor  of  the  dead,  rose  from  the  dark 
floor  of  the  world  and  bore  our  souls  to  Osiris.  And  our  cold  bodies, 
drest  with  the  holy  substances  that  save  the  flesh  forever,  and  guarded 
by  eternal  walls  of  stone,  lie  waiting  in  uninterruptible  slumber  for 
the  return  of  our  souls,  three  thousand  years  from  no vj"Jjf  Three 
thousand  years!  So  long  she  has  rested  in  what  her  biographer  has 
well  termed  "uninterruptible  slumber."  But  she  lies  at  last  in  a  strange 
land,  thousands  of  leagues  from  the  ruins  of  the  Thebes  she  knew, 
among  a  people  who  know  her  story  only  from  the  dim  writing  which 
has  lain  with  her  in  her  age4ong  sleep.  But  in  that  sleep  of  death 
what  dreams  may  come!  Who  of  us  in  this  room  shall  say  that  while 
she  waits  in  that  painstaking  faith  of  her  ancient  people  for  her  soul's 
return,  the  love'warm  tragedy  of  her  last  hour  does  not  revisit  her 
slumber.  We  look  upon  the  ruins  of  that  temple  wherein  she  loved 
and  died.  How  may  we  know  but  that  the  bandaged  hollows  of  her 
eyes  behold  the  perfect  columns  and  the  colossal  gods  that  graced 
this  temple  in  her  far-gone  day;  that  the  magic  of  the  moon  still  stirs 
the  surface  of  the  Nile  for  her;  that  even  here,  within  this  alien  place, 
she  dreams  again!  J&J&J&J&J&J&J&J&J&J&J&J& 

Jtf  AFTER  MR.  FIELD  HAD  FINISHED,  THE  CURTAIN 
ROSE  SLOWLY  ON  A  SCENE  IN  EGYPT  ON  THE  NILE,  TO 


The  THE  ACCOMPANIMENT  OF  MUSIC  BY  AN  ORCHESTRA, 
Lady  Isis  in  INCLUDING  SEVERAL  HARPS.  THE  MUSIC,  SOFT  AND 
Bohemia  DREAMY,  FILLED  THE  CHAMBER,  WHILE  THE  PANTO- 
MIME OF  THE  REINCARNATION  BEGAN,  DEVELOPED, 
AND  ENDED.  J»J»J»J»JtfJ»J»JlfJ»J#J#J» 

Jtf  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED  COPIES  OF  THIS  BOOK  WERE 
PRINTED  IN  DECEMBER,  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND 
FOURTEEN,  BY  TAYLOR,  NASH  AND  TAYLOR  OF  SAN 
FRANCISCO  FOR  JEREMIAH  LYNCH,  AND  BY  HIM  PRE- 
SENTED TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOHEMIAN  CLUB. 
ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  BOHEMIAN  DAN  SWEENEY.  Jtf  Jtf 


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